Current events
Christian News (from WikiNews): August 2006 August 30, 2006 Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India: Various Christian leaders, including Catholic Archbishop Joseph Augustine of Raipur, are lobbying against an anti-conversion law that in their opinion would hamper missionary work. The bill places limits on attempts at religious conversion "by force or allurement", a point which is open to multiple interpretations. The bill also requires government approval and a thirty-day waiting period for religious conversions. The bill carries a penalty of a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs.20,000. Similar laws have been passed by various Indian states (like Tamilnadu), and have the support of many Hindu extremist groups such as Dharam Sena, but Christians complain that they are a form of religious persecution. Sources: WorldWide Religious news. June 2006 Bishop opens up a debate with 'Christian society' claims Monday June 5, 2006 Source: Ekklesia The Anglican Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, is concerned at Britain no longer being considered a Christian society and its replacement by a "multi-faith mish-mash" – but his views have been challenged by those who say that a plural approach is in everyone’s interests, and that Christianity should be a subversive rather than an establishment force. Bishop Nazir-Ali, who was a candidate for Archbishop of Canterbury last time round, comes from a Muslim background in Pakistan. He is on the evangelical wing of the Church of England and is influential in its thinking about Christian mission in a changing world. In a speech and a number of interviews last week, Bishop Nazir-Ali criticised the idea, first mooted by Prince Charles himself in 1994, that a future king could defend all faiths, not just Christianity, because, he says, the differences between them are too great... (News continues offsite) This news is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 England & Wales License. Christian pilgrims attacked while praying Associated Press in Kampala Monday June 5, 2006 Source:The Guardian More than 100 people have been arrested on charges of raping or robbing Christian visitors during a pilgrimage that drew thousands of people to Uganda at the weekend, officials said. Police detained 135 people as worshippers arrived to mark Uganda Martyrs' Day. The event, which honours 22 Roman Catholic converts killed in the 1870s, attracted pilgrims from Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi, said police commander Grace Turyagumanawe, who added: "They were resting and praying in the Namugongo shrine compound when the thugs attempted to rob and rape them." May 2006 the da Vinci Code - true or false? The novel The Da Vinci Code, a bestseller book by Dan Brown, has been made into a movie, scheduled for release on May 19, 2006. [''Warning: Spoiler follows''] Story summary: A murder in the Louvre and clues in Da Vinci paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years—which could shake the foundations of Christianity. The so-called religious mystery is that Jesus Christ was just a man, a great man, but a man nonetheless. He married Mary Magdalene, and they had children together. The secret society is The Priory of Sion, which has protected Christ-Magdalene blood line until now. Dan Brown pushed Mary Magdalene into the scene by saying that the Holy Grail was not a literal grail, but Mary Magdalene herself. Many Christian groups responded to the movie and book, including Opus Dei, which was depicted as a cruel and torturing group in The Da Vinci Code. Their responses vary. Some praised this book for bringing more people in to seminars and sermons. Some rejected the book, saying that it is false. Some took the matter to the extreme, boycotting the book and protesting the movie. The Da Vinci Code—true or false? The choice is yours. Read the responses made by Christian groups: * Opus Dei—''The Da Vinci Code,'' the Catholic Church and the Opus Dei * [http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/newsletter/2003/nov7.html Christianity Today—Breaking The Da Vinci Code] * [http://www.probe.org/content/view/127/169/ Probe Ministries—Redeeming The Da Vinci Code] April 2006 April 21, 2006 The fossil of a fish, "Tiktaalikroseae", meaning "Big fish in shallow water", has been found Ellesmere Island, north of Canada. What is special about this "big fish", however, is that apart from the normal fish features (fins, scales etc.), it has four legs! This brings triumph for scientists who support the evolution theory. Because the fish has four legs, it fits in with the description of "transition from water to land" from the evolution theory. But the sky has not fallen for the Christians. While some scientists believe that, others reject it. One such scientist is the internationally respected biochemist Fazale ‘Fuz’ Rana, PhD, a Christian origin-of-life researcher and Vice President at the science/faith think-tank, Reasons To Believe. Below quoting Chrisitan Viewpoint Blog "If Tiktaalik is a transitional intermediate, it means that evolution from fish to land-dwelling animals must have happened in less than 10 million years. "When evolutionary biologists claim that the transition from sea to land is that fast-paced," argues Rana, "it raises very real questions about evolution as an explanation for life’s history, even if this fossil is regarded as the ‘holy grail’ of paleontology. "Evolution couldn’t have happened that rapidly given the extensive biological changes needed for a creature to move from the water to land. Evolutionary biologists have made up their minds before they even examine the data," Rana continues. "They are so convinced that evolution is a fact they are unwilling to carefully weigh the evidence." "It’s apparent that Tiktaalik was well-suited to live in a shallow-water environment near the land’s edge. The biological characteristics that this creature needed to thrive in that environment are similar to those required to live on the land," maintains Rana. "These shared features could just as easily reflect the work of a Creator who reused a mosaic of designs." March 2006 March 25, 2006 A cloth Easter Bunny holding a sign that said "Happy Easter" was removed from the lobby of City Hall in St. Paul, Minnesota. The city's human rights director, Tyrone Terrill, requested that the display be removed because it could offend non-Christians, but also said that no one had complained to him about the display. Full Article The personal correspondence of the former Archbishop of North and South America, and spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox community in the United States of America for 37 years, Iakovos Coucouzis, will be published during 2006. The Archbishop passed away in 2005. The publication of the correspondence of the late Archbishop will be the result of co-operation between the Theology School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the non-governmental Institute for National and Religious Studies and the program Ecumenical Hellenism. Full Article March 24, 2006 Pope Benedict XVI elevated 15 men to College of Cardinals today at an Ordinary Consistory, a ceremony in which the new Princes of the Roman Catholic Church receive three-cornered hats of crimson, the color distinguishing their new office and signifying their willigness to shed blood to spread the Christian faith. Full article Category:Current Events